Background Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is a highly infectious disease of swine caused by PRRS virus (PRRSV). Objectives To evaluate the prevalence of PRRSV antibodies in the four districts of hilly and terai regions of Nepal. Toassess the farm characteristics through a questionnaire interview of farmersregarding management practices and PRRS. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted from July 2020 to June 2021 to determine the sero‐prevalence of PRRSV in pigs. A total of 180 porcine serum samples were collected from 23 pig farms and tested for PRRSV antibodies by ELISA. Alongside, farm characteristics were also assessed through questionnaire to determine the level of biosecurity measures in the farm, knowledge of the disease and possible control mechanisms. Results Out of 180 samples, 37 were tested positive resulting the overall sero‐prevalence of 20.5%. There was significant association between different districts ( p < 0.05) and PRRS prevalence. Prevalence of PRRSV antibody was found higher in Kaski district (10.5%) followed by Sunsari (8.8%) district. Based on age groups, highest prevalence was found in age groups of above 18 months (9.4%), followed by 13–18 months age groups (7.7%). Regarding the knowledge level of the disease, 43% of the farmers responded that they have heard about the disease. Biosecurity practices in the farm was found very poor where only 40% of the farms had disinfectant at the entrance of the farm and 25% pig farmers were found using separate boots while dealing with pigs. Conclusions The findings of this study reveal the presence of PRRSV antibodies in pigs of Nepal. In addition poor biosecurity measures, management practices and poor knowledge level about the disease among farmers highly affect in the control and prevention of disease thereby affecting the pig production and productivity. Therefore, government should develop and implement effective control measures and biosecurity programs.

BackgroundFunctionality of the tetrameric hemoglobin molecule seems to be determined by a few amino acids located in key positions. Oxygen binding encompasses structural changes at the interfaces between the α1β2 and α2β1 dimers, but also subunit interactions are important for the oxygen binding affinity and stability. The latter packing contacts include the conserved Arg B12 interacting with Phe GH5, which is replaced by Leu and Tyr in the αA and αD chains, respectively, of birds and reptiles.ResultsSearching all known hemoglobins from a variety of gnathostome species (jawed vertebrates) revealed the almost invariant Arg B12 coded by the AGG triplet positioned at an exon-intron boundary. Rare substitutions of Arg B12 in the gnathostome β globins were found in pig, tree shrew and scaled reptiles. Phe GH5 is also highly conserved in the β globins, except for the Leu replacement in the β1 globin of five marine gadoid species, gilthead seabream and the Comoran coelacanth, while Cys and Ile were found in burbot and yellow croaker, respectively. Atlantic cod β1 globin showed a Leu/Met polymorphism at position GH5 dominated by the Met variant in northwest-Atlantic populations that was rarely found in northeast-Atlantic cod. Site-specific analyses identified six consensus codons under positive selection, including 122β(GH5), indicating that the amino acid changes identified at this position may offer an adaptive advantage. In fact, computational mutation analysis showed that the replacement of Phe GH5 with Leu or Cys decreased the number of van der Waals contacts essentially in the deoxy form that probably causes a slight increase in the oxygen binding affinity.ConclusionsThe almost invariant Arg B12 and the AGG codon seem to be important for the packing contacts and pre-mRNA processing, respectively, but the rare mutations identified might be beneficial. The Leu122β1(GH5)Met and Met55β1(D6)Val polymorphisms in Atlantic cod hemoglobin modify the intradimer contacts B12-GH5 and H2-D6, while amino acid replacements at these positions in avian hemoglobin seem to be evolutionary adaptive in air-breathing vertebrates. The results support the theory that adaptive changes in hemoglobin functions are caused by a few substitutions at key positions.

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Purpose: The government of Nepal (GoN) is implementing many small, medium, and large types of Irrigation Projects. Sikta Irrigation Project (SIP) is the National Pride Project implemented by the GoN. The command area of the project has 42766.00 ha and beneficiaries of the project have 46715 households consisting of 449588 population of Banke district. The paper aims to assess the contract performance in terms of the Time and Cost of the Sikta Irrigation Project, Banke, Nepal. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using secondary data of contract, content Analysis of Project documents review and Key Informant Interviews were used for assessing the contract performance. Findings/Result: Sikta Irrigation Project has a total of 52 contracts out of which consider for study based on documentation, only 18 contracts completed based on schedule time whereas 16 contracts behind schedule. However, 16 contracts are still on going far behind the schedule and one contract terminated. The actual expenditure of the project has 16.26 billion (64.90% of estimated cost) and the allocated budget was 18.26 billion (72.99% of estimated cost) whereas the estimated cost has 25.032 billion. It indicates that the progress of the project was 64.90% and fails to complete the scheduled time 2076/077. The client should prepare the project well before implementation with proper planning, designing, and detailed study from the beginning. Originality/Value: It is empirical research to assure the project performance based on lessons from Sikta Irrigation Project. Paper Type: Analytical Policy Research

Purpose: Government of Nepal (GoN) is implementing many small, medium and large type of Irrigation Projects. Sikta Irrigation Project (SIP) is the National Pride Project implemented by the GoN. The command area of the project has 42766.00 ha and the beneficiary of the project have 46715 households consisting of 4,49,588 population of Banke district. The overall objective of the study is to assess the consequences of delay and dispute of the selected contracts of Sikta Irrigation Project, Banke, Nepal. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using secondary data of the contract the mean planned duration is compared with mean actual duration to analyze delay analysis and Disputes of the contract have been interpreted based on standards of contract using content analysis. Findings/Result: The mean planned duration of the contracts under the study is 17.42 months and mean actual time 32.28 months with a standard deviation of 7.72 months and meantime variance is 13.46 months behind the schedule and meantime overrun is 14.85 months. Dispute resolution of only Papu costal JV has been analyzed. The contracts need to be rectified in terms of time by proper scheduling and resource leveling based local calendar. Hope the new amendments (PPMO 10th) of time extension will be helpful for the timely completion of contracts. Originality/Value: Action research to enhance the performance of Projects by avoiding Disputes. Paper Type: Analytical Policy Research.

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